Officials say biohazards lab is safe in Galveston

Risk versus rewardHurricane Ike was a vivid reminder of Galveston's vulnerability as a home for the world's deadliest substances, but officials say new center is secure

ERIC BERGER, Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

Published 6:30 am, Sunday, November 9, 2008

Photo: STEVE UECKERT, CHRONICLE

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Scientists will study the world's deadliest bacteria and viruses at the new $176 million Galveston National Laboratory, which sits on the UTMB campus.

Scientists will study the world's deadliest bacteria and viruses at the new $176 million Galveston National Laboratory, which sits on the UTMB campus.

Photo: STEVE UECKERT, CHRONICLE

Officials say biohazards lab is safe in Galveston

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GALVESTON — Building an ultra-secure biohazards lab on a hurricane-prone barrier island may seem like a bad idea, but that's just what federal scientists have done.

Environmentalists and some Galveston community leaders have raised concerns about the $176 million, seven-story lab where researchers will study the world's deadliest viruses and bacteria, such as anthrax, Ebola and the plague.

The building, with an exterior of precast concrete and hurricane-resistant windows, stands on 800 pylons that have been driven 120 feet into the ground to ensure stability. Two massive generators are housed 30 feet above sea level.

The new lab, which should become fully operational by the middle of next year, was built next to a smaller biolab that opened on campus in 2004.

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Hurricane Ike left both labs unscathed.

"The entire island could wash away, and this lab will still be standing here," said James LeDuc, the new facility's associate director.

That's not quite the point, some environmentalists say.

"If nothing else is left behind, then the lab itself won't really be able to function," said Mark Muhich, chairman of Galveston's Sierra Club chapter. "I just wonder if this was the most practical place to build such an intensively financed research facility."

A Boston University biolab approved at the same time as Galveston's remains mired in a debate about safety and the ability of scientists to protect the community from deadly viruses. The unfinished Boston lab recently began holding contentious, judge-mandated public meetings that have showcased a deep divide within the surrounding community.

Officials at UTMB took a more proactive approach with Galveston residents. Before beginning construction, they held dozens of public meetings to explain what they planned to do in the research labs and what safety precautions would be taken. They also vowed to publicly report any problems, big or small.

"They really have outdone themselves in community involvement," said the Sierra Club's Muhich. "They extended themselves to the nth degree to include the community and to keep them informed."

Six years ago, the National Institutes of Health decided to fund the construction of two large new labs in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and amid mounting concerns about emerging infectious diseases, such as SARS and avian influenza.

At the time, there were no facilities with the proper precautions — so-called biosafety level 4, or BSL-4 lab space — where academic scientists could study the deadliest diseases.

Since 2002, however, there's been considerable expansion of BSL-4 space outside Galveston and Boston. The Army and CDC have significantly expanded their facilities, the U.S. Department of Agriculture plans to build a massive facility, and NIH has built a BSL-4 lab in Hamilton, Mont.

The building spree has led to a remarkable, tenfold increase in BSL-4 space during the last decade.

Critics, such as Rutgers University microbiologist Richard Ebright, have suggested that the new space, which falls under various regulatory authorities, has made the country more vulnerable, because the opportunity for accidents or theft has multiplied.

"The facilities themselves are designed in a redundant fashion, so the bigger concern is probably human accidents," said Margaret Race, a biologist who has studied biocontainment labs. "When you've got way more people in way more lab space, you're going to have greater concerns."

Safety measures

The Galveston lab, which has 12,362 square feet of BSL-4 space, has sought to minimize human error and prevent theft. It takes nearly 30 minutes for a researcher to enter or exit the lab. More than 150 security cameras monitor the facility. Most rooms require key-code access, allowing officials to track and record the movements of those inside the lab.

The interior feels something like a vault within a vault, with thick concrete walls painted a dull cream color and bright blue floors. On the floor below the lab are three 1,500-gallon tanks to "cook" liquid waste. Directly above the lab is an entire floor devoted to filtering air, where most of the lab's 1,424 HEPA filters are located.

Hirschberg said UTMB's bid for the lab, which by some estimates could have a $1 billion statewide economic impact during the next 20 years, clearly stood as one of the two best for a biocontainment facility.

In the 1990s, the university began hiring some of the best virologists in the world and became a leader in the study of tropical diseases.

The university approved construction of a small BSL-4 lab, which was completed in 2004 and has 2,000 square feet of space, in 2001. Then came the terrorist attacks. At that point, the university was positioned to cash in on a federal infusion of money into biodefense research that has totaled $41 billion over the last seven years.